Standards Development Process

College and career readiness standards developed in summer 2009

Based on the college and career readiness standards, K-12 learning progressions developed

Multiple rounds of feedback from states, teachers, researchers, higher education, and the general public

Final Common Core State Standards released on June 2, 2010

What are the Common Core State Standards?

Aligned with college and work expectations

Focused and coherent

Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills

Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards

Internationally benchmarked so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society

Based on evidence and research

Why is this important?

Currently, every state has its own set of academic standards, meaning public education students in each state are learning to different levels

All students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students from around the world

STANDARDS FORENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

&LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL

STUDIES,SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS

Design and Organization

Major Design Goals Align with best evidence on college and career readiness

expectations Build on the best standards work of the states Maintain focus on what matters most for readiness

Design and Organization

Three main sections K−5 (cross-disciplinary) 6−12 English Language Arts 6−12 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical

Subjects****Shared responsibility for students’ literacy development

Three appendices• A: Research and evidence; glossary of key terms• B: Reading text exemplars; sample performance tasks• C: Annotated student writing samples

Design and Organization

Four strands: Reading (including Reading Foundational Skills) Writing Speaking and Listening Language

Also…An integrated model of literacyMedia requirements blended throughout

Design and Organization

College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards Broad expectations consistent across grades and content areas Based on evidence

about college andworkforce trainingexpectations

Range and content

Design and Organization

K−12 standardsGrade-specific end-of-

year expectationsDevelopmentally

appropriate, cumulative progression of skills and understandings

One-to-one correspondence with College and Career Readiness standards

Reading

Comprehension (standards 1−9) Standards for reading literature and informational texts Strong and growing across-the-curriculum emphasis on

students’ ability to read and comprehend informational texts Aligned with NAEP Reading framework

Range of reading and level of text complexity(standard 10, Appendices A and B) “Staircase” of growing text complexity across grades High-quality literature and informational texts in a range

of genres and subgenres

Reading Foundational Skills

Four categories (standards 1−4): Print concepts (K−1) Phonological awareness (K−1) Phonics and word recognition (K−5) Fluency (K−5)

Also…Not an end in and of themselvesPromote Differentiated instruction

Writing

Writing Types/Purposes (standards 1−3) Writing arguments Writing informative/explanatory texts Writing narratives

Also… Strong and growing across-the-curriculum emphasis on

students writing arguments and informative/explanatory texts Aligned with NAEP Writing framework

Writing

Production and distribution of writing (standards 4−6): Developing and strengthening writing Using technology to produce and enhance writing

Research (standards 7−9): Engaging in research and writing about sources

Range of writing (standard 10): Writing routinely over various time frames

Speaking and Listening

Comprehension and collaboration (standards 1−3): Day-to-day, purposeful academic talk in one-on-one,

small-group, and large-group settings

Presentation of knowledge and ideas (standards 4−6): Formal sharing of information and concepts, including through

the use of technology

Language

Conventions of Standard English:Knowledge of language (standards 1−3) Using standard English in formal writing and speaking Using language effectively and recognizing language varieties

Vocabulary (standards 4−6) Determining word meanings and word nuances Acquiring general academic and domain-specific words and

phrases

Key AdvancesReading• Balance of literature and informational texts• Text complexityWriting• Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing• Writing about sourcesSpeaking and Listening• Inclusion of formal and informal talkLanguage• Stress on general academic and domain-specific vocabularyStandards for reading and writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects• Complement rather than replace content standards

in those subjects• Responsibility of teachers in those subjectsAlignment with college and career readiness expectations

Intentional Design Limitations

What the Standards do NOT define: How teachers should teach All that can or should be taught The nature of advanced work beyond the core The interventions needed for students well below

grade level The full range of support for English language learners

and students with special needs Everything needed to be college and career ready

Conclusion

Standards: Important but insufficientTo be effective in improving education and getting

all students ready for college, workforce training, and life, the Standards must be partnered with a content-rich curriculum and robust assessments, both aligned to the Standards.

Conclusion

The Promise of StandardsThese Standards are not intended to be new names forold ways of doing business. They are a call to take thenext step. It is time for states to work together to buildon lessons learned from two decades of standards-basedreforms. It is time to recognize that standards are notjust promises to our children, but promises we intend tokeep.